Brazil and China should make concerted efforts to explore more potential areas of bilateral cooperation, Brazilian Vice President Jose Alencar said Wednesday.

In an interview with Xinhua and the People's Daily, a leading Chinese newspaper, Alencar, who was invited to a reception in the Chinese embassy marking China's National Day, said he wanted "to take this opportunity to express our respect for the Chinese people."

"Today is an important day, because 59 years ago Mao Zedong liberated China. The Chinese people's working spirit and determination could be a good example for all the world," he said.

On the current international financial crisis, the vice president said the current situation, derived from the subprime crisis in the United States, could cause harm to the economic development of the whole world.

Without doubt, Brazil and China have their own advantages and are well prepared to face the crisis, Alencar added.

"Both of us can change this challenge into an opportunity, if we continue to maintain our economic growth and make joint efforts to explore more potential areas in order to reinforce bilateral cooperation," he said.

Alencar said the two countries enjoy not only a mutual understanding in the areas of culture, politics and diplomacy, but also good cooperation in economic sectors.

"A lot of Chinese businessmen have taken these abundant opportunities to invest in Brazil, and a lot of Brazilian businessmen have begun to realize that China also represents opportunities for them," he said.

"Our governments will provide good conditions for a better mutual understanding and win-win cooperation to these companies," Alencar said.

The vice president also spoke highly of China's opening-up policy. "It's great," he said.

"When Deng Xiaoping said 'Be it black cat or white cat, if only it could catch rats, it is a good cat,' I think he wanted to say, 'Don't think too much about ideology. The most important thing is to respect the natural law'," he noted.

"China respects the universal law, works assiduously in every field, learns knowledge of our ancestors and gets new experiences. These new experiences that China offers to the world are very important," Alencar said.

(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2008)